


Let the Forest Hear Us Out

by ironxprince



Series: The Story of Sophia Rogers-Stark [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Big Brother Harley Keener, Big Brother Peter Parker, Day At The Beach, Family Dynamics, Gen, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Kid Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), M/M, Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Teen Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25844986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironxprince/pseuds/ironxprince
Summary: Tony Stark and Steve Rogers take their four children on a trip to the beach. Familial chaos ensues, especially when one of them is hiding a secret they're sure will get them in trouble.But, of course, family always has your back.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: The Story of Sophia Rogers-Stark [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882657
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	Let the Forest Hear Us Out

**Author's Note:**

> I understand the familial relations in this piece may be considered unconventional. To be clear, Tony and Steve's children are Harley, Peter, Sophia (an original character), and Morgan. If you'd rather not read that, then this isn't the work for you. Thanks!

Sophia stares at her phone lockscreen, waiting for something to happen - a notification to pop up, some kind of apology message… nope. She’s left staring at a photo of a sunset, the one from February 14 that she doesn’t have the heart to remove. It reminds her of him - then again, everything does these days.

“Phone away,” Tony says as he walks behind her, setting a serving plate of eggs down on the table. Sophia frowns as she tucks her phone into her pocket, ringer on (it always has been since the breakup). Harley eyes her skeptically from across the table, and Sophia rolls her eyes.

“What?”

“Who are you texting?” Harley asks with a raised brow, ever the curious elder child.

“No one.”

“Really? Because if looks like you’re waiting for a text from your boyfr-”

“Shut up!” Sophia hisses sharply, earning her a, “ _ Hey! _ ” from Steve as he walks into the kitchen, Morgan set on his hip. Harley smirks.

“Sorry, Pops,” Sophia mutters as she reaches for the eggs. Tony slaps her hand away.

“Wait for your brother.”

“But he’s always late!” Sophia complains, but Tony just shakes his head.

“ _ Wait. _ ”

Harley smiles pleasantly at her from across the table. “Come on, Sophia. You know better,” he mocks, and Sophia glares at him. The fact that he used her full name makes it  _ so  _ much worse, as if he’s an angel, the perfect model child himself.

“We need to get that boy an alarm clock,” Steve mutters as he helps settle Morgan into her chair and begins to prepare her a plate. Sophia throws her hands up.

“Why does  _ she  _ get to eat?”

“Because she’s not a little demon like the rest of you,” Tony smirks from behind his coffee mug.

Harley tsks as he shakes his head. “Going after your sister, Soph? I expected better from you.”

Sophia crumples up her napkin and throws it at his head. Harley laughs as he dodges it. Tony fixes Sophia with a disappointed stare, and she drops her head. “Sorry,” she mutters. Harley nudges her leg beneath the table. She drives her toe into his shin, and smiles when she hears him grunt.

Sophia practically lunges for the plate of eggs when she sees Peter shuffle into the room, bleary-eyed and hair a mess.

“Morning,” Steve calls as Peter slides into his chair. He groans in return.

Peter, the second oldest, is the only kid who’s not a morning person. He gets it from his Dad; Pops is the early riser, but Tony had learned to live with it. It’s necessary, if he’s going to send four kids off to school in the mornings. Well, Harley drives himself to university and Morgan isn’t yet in grade school, but same difference.

Sophia loads her plate up with eggs and Harley yanks the serving spoon from her hand after two scoops.

“I wasn’t finished!” Sophia shouts, but Harley pays her no mind as he fills his plate. Peter munches quietly on a piece of bacon, and Morgan shoves her food around her plate with an incorrectly held fork. Tony leans back in his chair, watching the chaos with a raised brow, and Steve seems to be biding his time until it’s safe to make his own plate.

“Kids,” Steve says, and Sophia, Harley, and Peter find each other’s eyes, all frozen mid-bite. A conversation started by gaining everyone’s attention is  _ never  _ a good one. “I want you guys to try to get all your work done in school today. Try not to bring anything home, because this weekend… we’re going on a trip!” he announces proudly.

It’s silent from all ends of the table. And then, Morgan babbles, “Trip.” And the room explodes.

“Where?” Harley demands.

“Why?” Sophia asks.

Peter sinks lower in his chair.

“Long Beach Island,” Tony says, pointing at Harley - and then, he turns to Sophia, and his expression simultaneously hardens and softens, somehow. “Because we love you and want to have fun with you, and you  _ will  _ enjoy yourself, whether you like it or not.”

“I was gonna go to the movies with Ned this weekend,” Peter mutters, voice raspy. He looks and sounds like a truck hit him, Sophia thinks with amusement.

“Pick another time,” Steve says simply.

“Do we have to?” Sophia groans. All she wants to do is lock herself in her room and mope. No one knows about her situation but Harley, and the last thing she needs is to be held under a microscope this weekend.

“Yes,” Tony says simply, and her hopes are foiled. “Now, get to school. I’ll be there to pick you up at three. We leave at four, so pack fast.”

“And prepare for a weekend of fun!” Steve adds. Sophia rolls her eyes. Harley side-eyes him. Peter frowns at his bacon like it did something to him.

“I want to have fun,” Morgan says as she shoves a piece of egg around her plate. Tony throws his arm up, gesturing to his youngest.

“Why can’t you guys be more like your sister?”

“I’ll let you know the next time I need a diaper change,” Harley says.

Sophia scoffs into her glass of orange juice.

⬫⬨◊⬨⬫

Harley steps into Sophia’s room just as she shoves her red tank into her duffel and tries to pull the zipper shut. She tugs at it, repositioning her feet a couple of times, before pulling with all her might.

The zipper comes clean off, and Harley scoffs into his fist.

“You gonna laugh, or are you gonna come help me?” Sophia growls, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.

“It’s so fun watching you get beat up by a duffel bag.” Still he crosses the room, taking the zipper from her hand and beginning to reattach it to the bag as Sophia takes a seat on her bed and watches him. “How are things going with David?”

“Shout his name any louder, I don’t think Pops heard you,” Sophia says, and Harley grins up at her as he finishes with the bag and settles on the floor.

“Let him know what?” His volume increases with every word. “That Sophia broke a family rule and got a boyfr-”

“Shut up!” she hisses, launching a pillow at Harley’s face. He catches it, laughing, just as Peter steps into the room, his backpack perched over his shoulders.

“Sophia broke a rule?” he says, eyes wide, and she groans, falling back on her bed with her hands over her eyes.

Harley chuckles. “Get in, close the door,” he tells his brother, and Peter does as he’s told, standing with his back against it.

“D’you think the Dads heard?” Sophia asks, hands over her eyes.

“I was just walking by,” Peter answers. “I doubt it.”

Sophia nods, sitting up on her bed. “Fine. Yes, I got a boyfriend.” Past tense. Not technically a lie.

Peter’s hand flies up to cover his mouth. “But… but it’s a rule!”

“Thanks, Sherlock. Why do you think I was keeping it a secret?”

“But then why does Harley know?’

“Caught her sneaking out one night,” Harley says, smirking, as he flips the pillow in his lap.

Peter raises a brow. “And what did she give you to get you to keep the secret?”

Harley holds a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Can I not do my siblings a favour simply because I love them?”

“No,” Sophia and Peter say in unison. Harley just grins.

“Fine. Ten bucks and no mention of the fact that I own a motorcycle.”

“You-  _ what? _ ” Peter sputters, and Harley holds up a finger in his direction.

“Not a word.”

Peter shakes his head quickly. “I don’t know my own family anymore.”

“Says the kid who snuck away from his tour group, got bitten by a spider, got superhuman powers, and then snuck out of the house every night to fight crime until Dad found out a week later because you’re  _ such  _ a terrible liar,” Sophia mutters as she skims her bookshelf, looking for a novel to bring and pretend to read so her parents will leave her alone. Peter’s face flushes bright red.

There’s a faint knock on Sophia’s door, one of a tiny fist, and she crosses the room to pull it open. Morgan stands on the other side. “Daddy says come down, it’s time to leave and to-to have fun,” she says, struggling to remember.

“Which Daddy?” Sophia asks with a raised brow.

“Steve,” Harley says.

“Um, Steve,” Morgan confirms.

“Called it.”

Peter hefts his backpack higher on his shoulders and is first out the door after Morgan, the ass-kisser he is. Sophia shoulders her bag, glancing around her room where she planned to spend the next two days. Shame.

“You coming?” she calls to Harley, who sighs, standing with a grunt and tossing Sophia’s pillow back to her bed. She straightens it, fixing him with a raised brow. He just shrugs. “Right, I forgot you live like a pig. Some of us like to be clean, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah.” They step into the hallway, and Harley disappears into his room, returning a minute later rolling a suitcase behind him. Sophia laughs when she sees it.

“Where are you flying to?”

“Shut up, it’s all I have.”

“Yeah, right. You’re Iron Lad and the only bag you own is a suitcase?”

“How do you know about-”

“Iron Lad, huh?” Tony scoffs as he meets them on the ground floor. “And what’s that?”

Harley glares at Sophia, and she giggles, thinking back to the doodles she found on his desk as she dropped off his pile of laundry, sketches of the Iron Man suit but in silver and lavender with the words  _ Iron Lad  _ written beneath in AC/DC-esque lettering.

Harley rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “It’s my superhero name,” he mutters as he drags his bag to the door.

“What- superhero? You mean, when you get the suit?” Harley nods wordlessly, eyes down and face growing red. Sophia giggles behind her fist. “Well, first you need to graduate college. And then,  _ Iron Lad _ , I’ll give you the blueprints. You’ve gotta build the suit yourself, though.”

“Oh, come on! You made Peter a suit!”

“Because he made the Mark I on his own, which was so terrible, I had to take pity!”

“Hey!” Peter interrupts as he steps over the threshold, Morgan holding tight to his hand and wearing a little pink pony bag that holds her stuffed animal; Steve has her real belongings already packed in the van.

“You were wearing a onesie, Pete,” Tony calls, and Peter waves him off as he departs from the house. “Plus, he had a better name.”

“Iron Lad is cool,” Harley mutters. Tony raises a brow as he ushers them out of the door. “I was just brainstorming ideas, okay? I still have two years to think about it, apparently. And, look, I  _ will  _ create my own suit, if you give me yours to start with!”

“Giving it a paint job and a see-through helmet so you can attract boys’ attention doesn’t count.”

Harley keeps his head down as he steps outside the house and Tony locks the door behind him. “No, I was gonna do… not that,” he mutters. Sophia shoves his shoulder, and it tells her just how embarrassed he is, because he doesn’t react. It makes her giggle.

“Hey,” Tony calls as he falls into stride with her. “Stop tormenting your brother.”

“But it’s so fun!”

“Oh, no doubt, but he can’t see me laughing. He’ll think you’re my favourite.”

“I am, though, right?”

Tony shakes his head, biting back a smile. “Get in the car.”

Sophia grins as she reaches the side door and assesses the seats. Morgan is in the middle in her booster seat, of course, and Peter snagged the seat beside her. That leaves Sophia in the back with Harley. Fine.

Sophia rounds the car, pulling open Peter’s door. She tosses her bag around him and to the back seat. “Hey!” Harley shouts. Sophia plays on the baseball team. It can’t be said that she has bad aim.

An argument can be made, however, that she is  _ not  _ agile.

She crawls over Peter to get to the back, and with a lot of complaining from Peter’s end, giggling from Morgan’s, attempts to settle the situation from her parents (and she’s pretty sure Harley’s filming), Sophia collapses into the backseat and clicks her seatbelt into place.

Steve meets her eyes in the rearview mirror. He raises his eyebrows, a,  _ Was that really necessary?  _ kind of look. Sophia just shrugs her shoulders as she grins and turns to face out the window.

Steve puts the car in drive. “And we’re off!” he calls as he pulls the car onto the road. Morgan cheers. Peter grins. Sophia checks her phone. Harley’s headphones are already in as he reaches into his bag, withdrawing a pack of trail mix. Without facing him, Sophia holds out her hand. He drops a pile of cashews into her palm, and she tosses the handful into her mouth. Peter is next with the dried fruit. He turns away when he receives his stash, but Harley nudges his shoulder and he turns back around.

Harley drops a bunch of M&Ms into Peter’s palm, then nods his head to Morgan. Peter offers them to his sister with a grin, and she laughs. Harley smiles as he begins picking out the pretzels for himself, and Sophia hides a chuckle.

“Don’t tell the Dads,” Peter whispers to her, and Morgan giggles loudly, ruining the whole thing. Steve laughs, his shoulders shaking, and Tony grins as he turns in his chair.

“Not too much,” he tells Harley, and Harley mock-salutes. Tony blasts his rock playlist, Peter flinches at first but bobs his head, Harley continues to distribute the snacks, and Sophia thinks this trip may not be so awful, after all.

Of course, that was barely ten minutes in.

Around the 30-minute mark, she begins to get antsy, constantly checking her phone. When it vibrates against her thigh she jumps, her head just missing the ceiling. Her fingers tremble as she turns it face-up and reads the message.

**_Harley:_ ** _ hey :) _

Sophia sneers at the message. Harley’s silent laughs shake the backseat.

**_Soph:_ ** _ asshole _

**_Harley:_ ** _ you broke up didn’t you _

Sophia hates the fact that she feels tears begin to sting the back of her eyes. It was two weeks ago; she should be over it by now, but she still misses him, and she can’t stand it.

**_Harley:_ ** _ how? _

Sophia makes a big show of turning her phone face down and looking out the window. When it vibrates again, she knows it’s a message from Harley - really, she does. That doesn’t stop her from getting unnecessarily excited and flipping it over to read the text.

**_Harley:_ ** _ at least tell me who did it _

**_Soph:_ ** _ with how I’ve been acting, you can’t tell? _

**_Harley is typing…_ **

**_Harley:_ ** _ I’m sorry _

Sophia turns in her seat, giving him a tight-lipped smile. He holds out a hand, offering her one of his snacks of the hour, a dried mango. She accepts it before turning her attention back out the window.

Twenty minutes later, Morgan starts complaining. Sophia’s impressed; she thought her sister would’ve broken sooner. “I’m booored,” she declares, kicking her feet as she looks out the window.

“Can we play a game?” Peter asks hopefully. Harley turns up his music so loud, Sophia can hear it from where she sits.

“Great idea, Pete,” Steve calls. Tony turns in his chair, ready to join in, when he takes notice of Harley. He nods his head at Sophia, getting her attention, before looking to Harley. She gets his message, yanking one of the buds from his ear. Harley glares up at her, raising a hand, probably to smack her arm, but Sophia just grins. That enough is weird in itself, and Harley frowns, looking to the other parts of the vehicle.

Tony looks back at him, unimpressed. “Hi,” he says, and Harley drops his arm, sinking back into his seat. “Alright, Pete, what game do you wanna play?”

“Well, I dunno, what do you guys wanna do?”

“Great,” Harley mutters, and Sophia smacks his arm. He turns to her, affronted, but she just smiles back. “Really?” Harley demands, turning sharply to face Tony. “You’re just gonna let her hit me?”

“How about  _ I Spy? _ ” Tony suggests, and Harley groans as Morgan cheers.

“Completely unfair,” Harley mutters.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Harls. Why don’t you go first?”

“I wanna go!” Morgan pouts.

“Oh, alright, sweetheart,” Tony says, patting her knee. “You go ahead.”

Harley throws his hands up in the air. “Oh, come on! I’m third favourite, now?”

“Fourth, actually,” Peter says, searching around the truck as Morgan begins muttering, “I spy… uh….”

Steve laughs, loud and rambunctiously, and Peter cracks a grin. Tony hides a scoff, and Sophia begins to giggle. Harley just shakes his head fondly.

“Hey! You guys aren’t listening,” Morgan says, and Harley leans forward, poking his head between her and Peter.

“I’m listening, Morgs. Go ahead, take your turn.”

Tony meets Steve’s gaze in the front seat as Morgan begins to search around the truck. “I spy with my little eye….”

⬫⬨◊⬨⬫

“... the hotel,” Steve sighs as they pull off the highway. “Finally, we’re here. I swear, my legs are cramping under this steering wheel.”

“Oh, you swear, do you?” Harley mutters. Sophia scoffs; Steve doesn’t seem to catch it.

“Alright, let’s go check in, and then we can head down to the beach-”

Morgan kicks her legs against the back of Steve’s chair. “I wanna go swimming.”

“Oh, me too, little miss, but we’ve gotta drop off our bags first.”

“Swimming, swimming, I wanna go swimming….”

“We will, I promise, but we need to put our things inside the hotel, and-”

“Swim, swim, swim….”

“Morgan, you can’t go alone-”

“We’ll take her,” Harley says, looking out the window. Tony and Steve share a look.

“We?” Steve asks.

“Peter, Sophie, and I. We’ll take her swimming.”

“I- are you sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m the oldest, right? That’s my job.”

Tony grins, his words contradictory to his proud expression. “Alright then, leave the hard work to the parents. I see how it is. I’d  _ love  _ to be relaxing down at the beach, but noo.”

They pile out of the car, and Tony ruffles Harley’s hair. “Thank you, Harls,” he says, and Harley just blushes, dropping his gaze.

“‘S fine,” he mumbles, and Tony grins before turning away. Sophia gets a kiss on the cheek from her Dad and a side-hug from her Pops, and then she’s walking side by side with Peter on her left and Harley on her right with his hand in Morgan’s as they cross the road. Sophia hopes Harley’s grip stays tight; Morgan begins to hop as they near the beach, and he switches her over to his left side so Sophia can grab her opposite hand and swing her between them. Morgan giggles, causing the rest of them to lapse into laughter, and when they finally reach the sand Morgan takes off, sprinting across the grains. Sophia chases after her, Harley by her side, and Peter matches their pace even though they all know he could be well ahead.

Morgan reaches the water but Harley picks her up before it can wet her knees, flying her across the waves and letting her skim her feet along the water. Harley settles Morgan atop his shoulders, not a single one of them worried about their sopping wet clothes - how can they, when Peter decides to start a water fight?

When the water hits Harley, he stands up straighter, and Morgan squeals. Instantly, they know something big’s about to go down.

Sophia reaches for Morgan just in time, settling the girl atop her hip as Harley kicks a spray of water in Peter’s direction. Peter dives under, swimming further out. When he resurfaces the water is up to his chin, and Sophia holds Morgan in safe territory as the boys pull each other under.

Sophia takes a couple of steps back toward the shore before setting Morgan down. She slaps her hands atop the water and Sophia settles back, gliding her food under the waves. And then, she feels a spray of water across her back.

Morgan chants “Ohhh” as Sophia turns slowly, and there, just as she expected, stands Harley. He gives a small wave and stands there for exactly 1.5 seconds before he turns and takes off running. Sophia waits for just long enough to see Peter pick up Morgan before she gives chase, running morphing into swimming when appropriate until she reaches Harley, hooking her foot around his ankle and watching as he dips beneath the water. He resurfaces a moment later, sputtering, and he fixes Sophia with a look that says he’s no longer playing around.

At six years and fifty pounds younger, Sophia knows she’s in for it.

She turns and runs, knowing it’s futile. Harley catches up to her within seconds, effortlessly lifting her and walking back over to deep waters. Sophia kicks her legs out into open air and spits out threats on deaf ears. She feels Harley’s hands on her, and then they’re gone. For a moment she feels weightless, and then the water engulfs her, swallowing on all sides.

She twists on instinct, lowering her feet beneath her and focusing her arms up to where she sees sunlight filtering down, shooting up through the waves just in time to hear a, “ _ Hey! _ ”

Pops.

Harley turns sharply to face the shore, blood draining from his face. “Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” Sophia chants from behind him.

“Shut up,” he mutters as he treks toward the shore where a furious Steve waits, his arms crossed. Tony stands beside him, hands clasped behind his back as he gives a barely-noticeable smirk.

Oh, this is going to be  _ fun _ .

“What were you thinking, throwing your sister under like that?” Steve shouts as soon as they’re within earshot. Sophia trails behind, pouting out her lower lip and hunching forward slightly, trying to sell the  _ wounded baby sister  _ look as best as possible. Peter moves to stand beside her as Morgan kicks out at the waves and giggles when one hits her back. Clearly, she doesn’t get the tone of their little family meeting.

Or, she does, if she bears the tone of anyone but Harley or Steve. In which case, well, she’s nailing it.

“Look at her,” Steve demands. “She’s soaking wet and shivering. We leave you alone, we  _ trust  _ you for two minutes….” Harley turns as Steve rants, and Sophia mock-sniffles. Harley glares at her, and Sophia can’t keep back her smile. “Are you listening to me?”

Harley turns back around sharply. “Of course,” he mutters.

“Good, because this isn’t a joke. You need to understand….” As Steve trails on, Sophia catches Tony’s eye. He winks at her, and she has to keep herself from grinning. Tony nods his head further up the shore, and Sophia follows him. Steve pays her no mind, but Sophia is sure to stick her tongue out at Harley when she’s out of Steve’s line of sight. The best part is, Harley can do nothing back.

Sophia follows Tony up the shore, shivering as her wet clothes fall against her skin. Tony leads her up to one of the boulders near the road where four towels are set out, and he grabs one and hands it to her. She wraps it around herself eagerly, it already warm from the sun.

“Thanks,” she says through chattering teeth. Tony leans back against the boulder.

“Yeah, you’re lucky we thought ahead. Hey, tell me you got some good attacks in before he threw you under.”

“I tried my best.”

“Oh, come on.”

“What do you want me to do? I read in my free time and he spends every day at the gym.”

Tony shrugs. “I guess you tried your best.” He pats beside him on the rock, and Sophia takes a seat atop the other blankets. “You wanna tell me why you’ve been so down this week?”

Sophia sucks in a breath on instinct, and then forces her shoulders to relax, hoping Tony didn’t notice. “I haven’t been down.”

“Well, you argued against this trip, which is interesting considering how much I know you love road trips. You’ve been in your room whenever your Pops or I didn’t explicitly call you downstairs, and you’ve been checking your phone constantly.”

“Yeah, so?” Sophia shrugs. “I’m a teenager.”

“You’ve always been happy and open and actually loving your parents.”

“So I’m never allowed to get upset?” Sophia says angrily, and Tony holds his hands up.

“I never said that,” he says calmly. “I want to know what’s wrong. Baby, you know I’m always here for you.”

Sophia sniffles, shaking her head to ward off the tears that unwillingly arise.  _ Not now _ , she thinks desperately.  _ Please, not now.  _ They fall anyway, and Sophia pushes back her hair, needing something to do with her hands as she stares down at the sand. She feels Tony’s eyes on her, but she refuses to look back.

“You- you know that  _ no boyfriend slash girlfriend slash special friend of any kind  _ rule?” Sophia says, looking down.

Tony sighs quietly. “I figured one of you would break it eventually.”

“Wait, so it was a test?”

The corner of Tony’s lips quirk up. “In a sense. It helped me figure you guys out quickly, see how you’d act in these changing times-”

“Please don’t lecture me about my changing body.” Tony grins, and Sophia sighs. “Alright, I’ll bite. What did you find out?”

“Well, you’re a rebel, apparently. I’ve been waiting for you to crack, but, knowing you, I’m going to believe it wasn’t just to disobey. You found someone you really liked.”

Sophia shrugs. “Yeah,” she mutters.

“Mm. See, Harley did it  _ only  _ to disobey, the little shit. You want to know how many boyfriends he’s had in the last year?”

“Wait, he had boyfriends? You- you  _ knew  _ about them?”

Tony smiles, looking proud of himself. “He wanted to see how bold he could get, so it got more obvious over time. I caught him at his very first attempt - Sam, the kid’s name was. Eight so far, I think. Nathaniel lasted the longest.”

Sophia’s mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”

Tony just shrugs. “Harley has a thing for curls.”

“No, I-I mean- eight? You counted?”

“Kid made it too easy. Anyway, Peter was following the rule to a tee. It honestly made him miserable, so I gave him permission to bypass it. He’s been dating a lovely girl for… I think we’re just coming up on seven months, actually.”

Sophia’s eyes widen. “I- oh. MJ,” she says. Tony nods.

“So… anything you want to share, now that you know I know everyone else’s secrets?”

Sophia offers a small smile, but her shoulders sag. “His name was David.”

“Ah,” Tony sighs softly, placing his arm around Sophia’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, hon.”

Sophia sniffles. “How do you know what happened? I haven’t even told you yet.”

“ _ Was. _ ”

Sophia nods, understanding, as she exhales a slow breath. “I thought he was nice and I asked him out… turns out he was just interested in getting information on my dad.”

Tony’s arm tenses around her. “Shit, kid, I’m so sorry.”

Sophia shakes her head. “Say it.”

“Was it Iron Man or Captain America?”

Sophia laughs. “Captain America. But, the other thing.”

“Okay, first of all, that’s insane. Second of all… what other thing?”

Sophia shrugs, leaning closer against Tony’s side. “You warned me against it,” she says quietly. “You can say  _ I told you so.  _ I know you want to.”

“No. No, no, hon.” Tony gently grabs her by the shoulders and leans back to look her in the eye. “I really don’t. I’m so sorry for you, baby. Your feelings are valid, and I gave you those rules to protect you, but I guess I can’t precaution you against something you don’t know to be bad first-hand.”

“So you’re saying this heartbreak was necessary to make me stronger.”

Tony pulls Sophia back to his side. “I’m saying it hurts me to see you like this. I’m sorry you had to experience this, and I’m definitely not happy if you’re upset-”

“But this needed to happen.”

“Yeah,” Tony sighs after a moment. “Maybe.”

Sophia turns her head into his shoulder. She squeezes her eyes shut and lets it all out, everything that she’s been bottling up, keeping in, denying that she felt.

She has to admit, it feels good to cry.

“Look at her!” Sophia hears, and she cracks her eyes open. Steve is stomping up to her, yelling at someone behind him.  _ Harley _ . Oh, shit - and behind him, Peter and Morgan, they actually look worried.

Double oh, shit.

“Do you see what you did?” Steve yells as Harley hurries to Sophia’s side and kneels in front of her.

“Soph? Shit, Soph, I really didn’t mean- I thought we were just playing, I-”

Sophia laughs, wiping away a tear. As priceless as this is, seeing Harley on his knees apologizing to her, she won’t let him feel unnecessary guilt. “Yeah, no, this isn’t because of you.”

Harley frowns. “Then what-”

Tony squeezes her shoulder. “Your sister here just ended her first relationship.”

“Wait, what?” Peter says quietly.

“ _ What? _ ” Steve demands, face red.

“What?” Morgan repeats, digging her toe into the sand.

“They know you broke the rule?” Harley asks.

“Uh,  _ I  _ didn’t!” Steve exclaims.

“You never told me you had  _ eight  _ boyfriends!” Sophia shoots back at Harley.

“What- you know?” Harley looks affronted at Tony. “How does she know?”

“You know  _ I  _ know?” Tony challenges.

“Wait, you  _ both  _ broke the rule?” Peter asks, hurt.

“Oh, shut up. I know you broke it, too,” Sophia deadpans.

“MJ?” Harley asks in monotone.

“Yup,” Sophia confirms, popping the  _ P _ .

“Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Steve shouts.

“Hey!” Sophia, Harley, and Peter all scold at once.

“Hey!” Morgan repeats.

The beach is silent. And then, Tony scoffs. And then, they all collapse into laughter.

“Okay, alright,” Harley says, holding his hands up. “First of all, how did you know about my boyfriends, and-and how many there were?  _ I  _ don’t even know how many there were.”

“Dad told me.”

“But- wait, you were  _ counting? _ ” Harley asks, affronted.

“You knew that I knew?” Tony fires back.

“Your scheming face is way too obvious.”

Tony looks to Steve, who shrugs. “Yeah, okay,” Tony sighs. “I’ll give you that.”

“How did you guys know about MJ?” Peter demands, incredulous.

“You spend a lot of time with her,” Harley says. “Didn’t exactly know you were together, but it makes a lot of sense.”

“She’s sweet,” Sophia tells Peter with a smile. “Happy half-year.”

“Okay, yeah, I knew about that one,” Steve admits. Peter nods. “Harley… what?”

“Hey, you give me a rule, you know I have to break it.”

“And you broke it eight times because….”

“Because you guys didn’t catch me the first seven.”

“Oh, I caught you,” Tony scoffs. “I wanted to see how long it took your dear old Pops to catch you.”

“You know,” Steve says, “we’re supposed to be doing this whole  _ parenting  _ thing together.”

“Yeah, but this is more fun.”

Steve just shakes his head. “I’d appreciate a heads up, next time.”

All heads turn to Morgan. “Will there be a next time?” Harley asks. Will they subject Morgan to this?

“No,” Steve sighs. “I think we’ve found out this doesn’t work.”

“And we know enough about her character already.” Tony grins as he watches Morgan jump around, chasing seagulls.

“Wait, hold on.” Steve turns back to Sophia. “He broke up with you? This is why we have the rule, to keep you guys from heartbreak-”

Sophia leans back against Tony’s shoulder. There it is - the  _ I told you so. _

“Lay off,” Tony says quietly. “This is actually because of you.”

“What? How is it-”

“The asshole just wanted to get closer to his personal hero.”

Steve’s mouth opens in an  _ o _ as he freezes in his spot. Peter steps forward slowly to Sophia’s side. “I’m so sorry, Soph,” he says quietly.

Sophia smiles up at him. “Yeah, thanks.”

Harley remains kneeling in front of Sophia as he looks up at her, dark eyes a storm. “Where is he?” Harley demands.

Sophia gives a sad scoff. “Well, not  _ here _ .”

“Give me your phone. I have a few choice words for him.”

“Harley,” Tony says, leaning forward. “I don’t think you should-”

“Give him your phone,” Steve tells Sophia. Her eyes fly up to his, and he just winks back.

Tony shrugs, grinning. “Listen to your Pops.”

Sophia giggles. “Alright, I think it’s in the van-”

Tony reaches into his pocket and retrieves the phone, holding it out to her. Sophia takes it, smiling- and she notices the notification.

**_David:_ ** _ I know you’re mad, but I really don’t know the answers to Mr. Reid’s worksheet and you usually help me with that. _

Sophia scoffs as she reads it. “Yeah,” Tony says. “Sounds like a douche.”

“I- you read it?”

“How do you think I thought to ask you? You very well could have simply been a moody teenager, but your phone beeped as we were clearing out the car… I put two and two together.”

Sophia bites back a grin as she hands her phone to Harley, not bothering to delete the message. She watches Harley’s eyes darken as he reads, and sees Peter’s eyes widen as he skims it over Harley’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’ve got some words for this asshole,” Harley mutters as he begins typing. Sophia shakes her head fondly, smiling as she leans against Tony’s side. Steve comes nearer, placing his hand on Sophia’s shoulder, and together they watch as Harley’s fingers slam against the keyboard, Peter occasionally adding in more (vulgar) words, and as Morgan dances behind them.

You know what, Sophia’s glad she came out this weekend.


End file.
